"Protecting tigers is a tough job. We have to keep at it"

Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh spoke with Mihir Srivastava about the precarious situation of the tiger reserves, dwindling tiger population and ongoing efforts to save them. Excerpts from the interview:

Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh spoke with Mihir Srivastava about the precarious situation of the tiger reserves, dwindling tiger population and ongoing efforts to save them. Excerpts from the interview:

Jairam Ramesh

Q. How do you plan to save the tiger in India?

A. It is a long-drawn process with no overnight solutions. It would need a lot of efforts to reverse the trends. We would have to deal with the real estate mafia, mining mafia and criminal mafia linked to the international smuggling of tiger parts. These issues need to be recognised and addressed.

Q. Is the Government still to recognise these issues?

A. We have recognised these issues. We have entered into a tripartite agreement with the state governments and the park managements in all the 39 tiger reserves to help define roles and responsibilities.

Q. How are the 39 tiger reserves doing?

A. Nine of them are in good condition, 14 are satisfactory and 16 in poor state.

Q. How do you plan to deal with it?

A. We need to give local communities a stake in the protection of forests. I have suggested that the state governments create a social protection force with people drawn from the local community. Also, we have, after 18 years, asked the states to recruit lower-level staff like forest guards and foresters.

Q. But tigers and people cannot live together. People know killing a tiger means big money.

A. The core areas are inviolate and exclusive for tigers; buffer zone is an inclusive zone. Relocation of some 80,000 families out of forests, both in the core and buffer zones, are being given importance. Each family is being paid Rs 10 lakh. We have so far moved 3,000 families out of the forests but the process needs to be expedited.

Q. Are you also open to private participation in the conservation of forests?

A. No. We have created a Tiger Conservation Foundation for every tiger reserve. They can contribute money to help the cause.

Q. There is no accountability mechanism in place. How do you plan to deal with it?

A. The tripartite agreement will help in better information exchange and coordination. Protecting tigers is a tough job. We have to keep at it.

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